I thought Noachide laws were discoverable through intrinsic human logic (there's a source for this somewhere). If that's the case, G-d imbued all of humanity with knowledge of these laws and one cannot claim to not know of them.
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Charles KoppelmanOct 3 '12 at 17:25

2 Answers
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He's accountable because he should have learned the laws and he didn't (Rambam, Melachim 10:1). Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman (Kovetz Maamarim, Maamar Al Emunah; partially translated online here) explains that a person naturally should think about the purpose of life, and you certainly don't think the purpose of life is to drink beer. You will eventually come to the conclusion to look for G-d's instructions given in the Torah, and follow them.

ok. but most non jews intuitively do believe in a higher power - Gd. but how would they make that jump to believing in Judaism, especially since many will never even be exposed to Jews
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rayOct 3 '12 at 21:58

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@Raymond, i think that all the 7 Noahide laws are things that a person with sense can come to. Perhaps eating a live animal is hard to understand, but even that perhaps one can understand that it is a cruel thing to do.
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YehudaOct 27 '12 at 18:45

@yehuda wont help since the Rambam says that a nonjew must fulfill the noahide laws thru belief in the torah, not out of logic.
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rayJul 9 '13 at 19:36

According to the Mishneh Torah, only a Ben Noach (one who has accepted the 7 Noahide Laws) is to be held accountable for violating his laws, whether he is aware that he violated a specific law, or not (Melachim uMilchamot 10:1).

A non-Jew who has not accepted the Noahide Laws upon himself, especially if unaware of them, would not be culpable for their violation. On the other hand, one who fulfills them out of intellectual conviction is not guaranteed a share in the world to come, either (ibid. 8:11).

Can you bring a source for "ben noach" referring only to someone who accepted them upon himself?
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b aOct 3 '12 at 21:59

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I don't think you accurately represented the Rambam. He writes that someone who fulfills the laws out of good sense is not guaranteed a portion in the world to come as is someone who abides by those laws specifically for the sake of serving God. That does not mean that the can't obtain a portion in the world to come.
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FredOct 3 '12 at 22:16

@ba Yes, I realize that. But Charles Koppelman was trying to claim that because "all people are children of Noah", then the term Benei Noach means 'all non-Jews'. What I was trying to point out was, that Benei Noach doesn't mean 'all people'( Jews are descendants of Noach, but are not Benei Noach). So, if Benei Noach only refers to a subset of "all people", then why can't it also refer only to a subset of 'all non-Jews', especially when there are perfectly good terms( Nokhri, Goy) to refer to 'all non-Jews'?
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Tamir EvanOct 16 '12 at 5:06

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@ba Then, does that mean that idol-worshipers are not Benei Noach, and exempt from the Noahide Laws? Also: here, here and here it is Goy. To the best of my knowledge, it is the censored editions that use עכו"ם instead of גוי( I don't have the Farnkel edition with me, to confirm it).
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Tamir EvanOct 18 '12 at 4:51